irregular problem

sound change during days and it loss cleanness and ease and i should unplug my amp and cdplayer from wall outlet then remove xlr cables and turn off for 5 minutes then turn on system for 5 minutes (without connecting xlr cables) then turn off system and connect xlr interconnects and turn on system.
now sound is clean and more easy to my ears but it loss after some days and i should repeat process.
i have accuphase DP-55v and krell kav-300il

can you tell me why and what's solution?

 

irregular problems

Prunes. Works for me.

 

this could be any number of things ......

the first to grab me would be static, that builds up as described.

I think mains quality has been mentioned to you before.

Atmospheric affects heat and humiddity can do strange things.

 

I wonder because it's effect is clearly high in sound.
What do i should to do?
Do you khow websites for these information?
Thanks

 

Check the earthing of the equipment......if you have suspect mains think about a ground spike ..see here for the down side

http://www.acoustica.org.uk/t/earth.html

 

we have no earth.
i connected earth pin to water pipe.

 

Is it very dry where you are?

If so, it could be that where the water pipe goes into the ground there is not a very good connection. It is also the case that many water pipes which are copper inside the house soon connect to plastic ones in the ground, so you may not get a good earth from that.

If you know where the water pipe goes into the ground, next time you get this issue try putting a lot of water on the ground where the pipe goes in and giving it time to sink in. You might find this fixes the problem.

 

This subject fascinates me though I have little understanding of it. I would like to see a major or sticky thread about getting your mains sorted.

Recently there have been posts on the subject. There was a lot of attention given to it in the recent edition of Hifi World. I get the impression from posts that mains tinkering can bring large benefits. I say this even as someone who rants about cable prices and bogus improvements. It has been said before that good mains can bring about an improvement more fundamental than cable changes. Remember also that we are talking about real world sparkie's labour and electrical trade materials, NOT hifi industry bloated prices. Perhaps doing this would also obviate most of the benefit from one of those ridiculously priced mains treatment boxes, which is a bit like trying to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted.

So mains earthing could be explained by someone who knows about it. Can it for example, be done effectively in a flat? What about the talk of "balanced mains" boxes, whatever that means? Is there any point using expensive materials like the Russ Andrews Book of Nonsense will have you do? Or, is it the fundamental separation of it all that really matters?

Who would support a sticky thread on the overall subject? Maybe admins could ask a really knowledgeable member to start with a realistic guide to the most beneficial aspects of mains changes to make, that would be do-able for most people.

 

I suspect that may be your problem ....or an area which you could concentrate on. Theres a lot writen on the subject ....but it needs to be pertanent to your current situation and any local regulations you have.

 

I suggest you ditch you 1895 wiring and rewire your house then

PS I have this problem as well some times, I think its a combination of dirty mains and my body.

 

But Zanash, regulations don't come into it, apart from maybe use of a balanced mains box. I'm talking about internal matters. I'm speaking of changes that several people have cited as being more fundamental than cable changes in a system. I marry that with my own experience in two homes, that sound seems to change at different times of day, and I can't accept that it is merely psycological and mood related.

What if we can all make a diffence , for electrical trade prices ?

That's what excites me.

Its a release from the sickening nonsense of Isotek mains boxes and fancy cables. Yes they will make a difference, but what I'm saying is, maybe you can better tackle it at the front end and do so at an insignificant price !!!!!!!

That IS exciting.

If you agree, please lend your support to getting this whole subject collated and focused into an expert piece that will form the basis of a sticky thread.

 

Cloth ears - it's nothing new. However, there is only so much you can do. Local earth spikes are a difficulty because you have to massively (and expensively) over-spec them because they will function as an earth not just for you, but for any of your neighbours who are closer to you than to the local substation. Improving the wiring in your house and giving the hifi its own dedicated circuit can have benefits in limiting how much noise comes from other things in the house, but it does nothing for noise coming in from outside.

It is easy to buy isolation transformers and mains filters for much less than hifi industry prices.

 

Hi Issac, I'm glad you are engaging in this. I'm being serious in this threasd as you'll appreciate.

I wasn't aware that other users in a block of flats could influence things.

I know its nothing new, but one of my points really is that this issue gets mentioned here and there but it touches on one aspect of it, or goes off at a tangent, or the Russ Andrews nonsense creeps in. What I was saying is, can we not have an expert piece stating the most fundamental things you ought to do, that are accessable to most of us, all in one thread. Otherwise, little threads here and there may be interesting but still leave you clueless and you move on, doing nothing about it. I'd like to have some simple things to do that I can present to an electrician and say go for it, without breaking the bank.

You yourself there said something about islolating the hifi supply from the rest. Yes, that's the sort of thing, but lets have hard specifics, in one big thread.

You also said, isolators and mains purification boxes are available outwith hifi industry prices. Mmmm ! Ok, please eleaborate. I'm interested ! An Isotek box for a grand is just bullshit. I'm hyper interested if you have an altenative.

Regards,
Cloth-Ears.

 

could be that unmaking then remaking all the connections is in effect giving a light clean. Do you regulary clean the mains plugs and all the IC plugs and sockets? Brass mains pins should be polished with Brasso or like to remove laquer.You can buy contact cleaner from RS or Maplins. Spray on IC's and its fast drying. Add contact enhancer for a semi permament solution

 

I suspect there isn't a lot you can do beyond an isolation transformer and a separate mains ring Coth-Ears. The mains is dirty by the time it gets too your house so you can't really tackle it 'at the front end' all you can really do is isolate it at that point (or as close too your Hi-Fi as possible) to stop it getting even worse and then condition it with filter boxes etc..

Different filter boxes do seem to work better than others and I don't really know what they do beyond a few capacitors and coils but I wouldn't think you can find much, cheaply, that filters to the degree you want for your uber Hi-Fi.

I think balanced power works like balanced audio signals. You have two live wires half of the normal voltage, so 115V, each 180degrees out of phase with each other. This means when one swings to + voltage, the other swings to -. You then take the difference between these, to make the full 230v. It is supposed to help with noise level on the line but I'm not sure how!

In audio balancing you have two signals 180degrees out of phase with each other and then flip one round again so that any noise introduced on the signal line while they were out of phase with each other is suddenly cancelled out by the noise on the other line (the signals are now in phase and the noise is out of phase so the noise is cancelled out). I don't see how this works with the mains because from what I understand you dont flip the phase again on the mains and connect them together to cancel out the noise, you just use the potential difference between them while they are out of phase. Someone care to enlighten me?

 

Ok, thanks Tenson.

As I said buy Hifi World., Septemebr. A very interesting issue in general. Of all the hifi mags these guys seem to be the most real. There is an account of an experimant with balanced mains but the project is rather iffy for joe punter, the regs and his insurance !

Regarding the mains being shitty at my flat's "source" then ok then this is what I'm going to do right - I'm going to get that Russ Andrews catalogue and jolly well rewire my entire district and get those pylons well and truley R.A.'d too !

Yes, when I win tonight's lottery, I know what I'm spending my millions on !

Seroiusly though, are you saying that Isotek style mains conditioning boxes ARE actually worthwhile, albeit at high cost? Its been said above there are electrical industry solutions as alternatives to these hifi industry products. What are they folks? Very interested I am.

 

The electrical industry conditioners I have seen are simply capacitors and coils to filter off high frequency noise and low frequency rumbble. I know that is all thats in my made for Hi-Fi mains conditioner as I opened it up (WIMA caps and I dunno what coils), but other more expensive ones probably have other shizzle too. WM what do you put in yours?

If they are worthwhile or not is another thing!? I have a mains conditioner because it was given too me, but I can't say I hear a huge difference. There seems to be a bit more 'texture' in the high frequency. I'm yet to finish my shielded mains cables I started making about 6 months ago!

Why don't ya try one on a home demo to see if you even think it makes a difference? If it does you could then try some other alternatives such as separate mains rings.

 

"Why don't you try one" you ask.

Well, I'm cloth-eared arn't I ?

But seriously, it just seems to me to be locking the stable door after the horse has bolted and all for silly hifi cable industry prices.

 

I'm saying that there are various mains treatments on the market from various hifi suppliers that do indeed work. Whether they're worth the money is up to the individual. I have heard one make an astonishing difference in a system that was already pretty close to top of the game.

As for cheaper alternatives.... Olson's data protector range of mains blocks are identical other than paint to their sounds fantastic range. Isolation transformers can be obtained from RS and farnell for rather less than hifi suppliers.

 

Sounds Fantastic are not that far up the food chain in mains treatments though are they? I can't help feeling the top audiophool conditioners must have more to them than the standard 'industry' filters.

The difference they make must also depend a lot on what your mains is like anyway.